Interview Stages

Round 1: Coding

• Process: One coding round.
• Problem: Given a 3×3 tic-tac-toe board, two players (X and O) take turns placing their marks. A game sequence is a complete sequence of moves from an empty board to the end (win, loss, or draw). The game ends immediately if a player wins or the board is full. Count the total number of distinct game sequences (order matters).
• Focus: Combinatorial logic and understanding game termination conditions.

Note: The answer provided was 255168.